Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

AIZ has been the topic of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Assurant from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Assurant from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Assurant in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered Assurant from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $310.00 target price on Assurant in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.57.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIZ opened at $264.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.13 billion, a PE ratio of 13.55 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $248.33 and its 200-day moving average is $235.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. Assurant has a 52 week low of $183.39 and a 52 week high of $268.67.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $5.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.29 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. Assurant had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 20.32%. Assurant’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Assurant will post 21.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Dimitry Dirienzo sold 2,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $511,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,741 shares in the company, valued at $700,818.88. The trade was a 42.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Keith Meier sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.31, for a total transaction of $6,357,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,552 shares in the company, valued at $4,717,959.12. The trade was a 57.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 36,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,211,620 over the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assurant

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AIZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Assurant by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,040,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,213,968,000 after purchasing an additional 29,974 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 22.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,125,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,121,000 after buying an additional 205,767 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 697,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,006,000 after buying an additional 49,698 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at about $161,574,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 640,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,248,000 after buying an additional 31,432 shares during the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Assurant Company Profile

Assurant, Inc is a global provider of risk management products and services, specializing in the housing and lifestyle markets. The company offers insurance and related products designed to help consumers protect their homes, personal belongings, and electronic devices. Its core offerings include renters insurance, manufactured housing finance, flood insurance, mobile device protection plans, and extended service contracts for appliances and electronics.

Within its Global Housing segment, Assurant partners with mortgage lenders, financial institutions and government agencies to deliver specialty insurance and risk mitigation services.